It’s the No. 1 lament of the Detroit Red Wings faithful. Who’s going to make up for the lost goals?

The departure of 75 goals from the club’s lineup is well documented. Going out the door since season’s end were Daniel Sprong (18), David Perron (17), Robby Fabbri (18), Jake Walman (12) and Shayne Gostisbehere (10).

Those who will be tasked with leading the way for the team in terms of goal scoring this season don’t seem to think that they’ll be taxed too much to make up for the absent tallies.

“I don’t think that’s necessarily a concern,” said Alex DeBrincat, author of 27 goals last season. “I think we should be ready to play and hopefully ready to score a lot of goals.”

Debrincat scores his 13th goal of the year. 4-2 Red Wings pic.twitter.com/kdLrijM0VT

— Marc Dumont (@MarcPDumont) December 3, 2023

Certainly, Detroit is going to be able to put out two top lines that should prove formidable when it comes time to light the lamp. IT’s onyl training camp, but the top-six forwards set out by coach Derek Lalonde are telling.

He’s keeping DeBrincat with captain Dylan Larkin (33 goals) and Lucas Raymond (31 goals). They were a potent unit last season.

“I think all of us are looking to grow, too,” DeBrincat said. “All the guys that came back were looking to improve and be better players and obviously, hopefully score more goals.”

A two-time 41-goal scorer with Chicago, it’s interesting to note that last season was considered to be an off year in terms of output for DeBrincat.

Tarasenko, Kane Are Wild Cards For Red Wings

The second line has J.T. Compher between Patrick Kane and newcomer Vladimir Tarasenko. Kane was a 20-goal scorer in 50 games after signing with the Wings in December. If you pro rate Kane’s goal output last season over 82 games, he’d be a 30-goal man.

Showtime is back: Patrick Kane scores his first goal with the Detroit Red Wings. #Blackhawks pic.twitter.com/rwPlxly8dv

— Charlie Roumeliotis (@CRoumeliotis) December 10, 2023

Tarasenko is a multiple 30+ sniper during his NHL career. He once netted 40 goals. However, last season he was good for 23.

Still, with one of the greatest passers in the history of the game in Kane to distribute the puck to him, there’s cause to believe that Tarasenko could get back to somewhere near the 34 goals he scored for St. Louis in 2021-22.

“I think he’s a great shooter and he’s similar to DeBrincat in the way where he’s able to find open areas and get his shot off quickly,” Kane said of Tarasenko. “So, hopefully if I’m controlling the puck I can find him in certain areas where he can have a good chance to score.”

Larkin is also viewing Tarasenko as an X-factor when it comes to what he can bring to the Wings.

“I didn’t watch much of the first part of the playoffs, but obviously watched a lot of the finals and later rounds,” Larkin said. “And I watched Florida play and Vladi stuck out to me,” Larkin said. “I think him and Kaner can really click with Kaner’s playmaking ability and Vlad’s finishing and also Vlad’s forecheck. He can get on pucks and be very hard to play against.

“So I’m very excited to watch that line and how it goes throughout the season.”

Last season, this group of six was good for a combined 153 goals. It doesn’t seem like too much of a stretch for them to up that total to at least 165 goals this season.

The post How Many Goals Will Red Wings Top Six Score? appeared first on Detroit Hockey Now.

The Detroit Red Wings will be holding a bobblehead night for Patrick Kane. That could end up being just one of many milestones ahead this season for the veteran forward.

Patrick Kane is getting his own Red Wings bobblehead night.

The first 7,500 fans get one at the game on Tuesday, January 7 vs. the Senators pic.twitter.com/VzJgBzZ0Pq

— Brad Galli (@BradGalli) August 26, 2024

Kane bobblehead night is set for January 7 agains the Ottawa Senators. By then, he should’ve already become the third American NHL player to reach 1300 career points. Kane needs 16 points to hit that milestone. He’d be joining two other former Red Wings, Brett Hull (1391) and Mike Modano (1374).

Kane is also going into the season needing 29 goals to reach 500 as an NHLer. He’d be the sixth US player to join the NHL’s 500-goal club. A longer range project for Kane is 900 assists. He must dish out 86 helpers to get there. However, 81 assists will tie him with Phil Housley for the most-ever by an American NHLer

Speaking of American-born Red Wings, captain Dylan Larkin requires six assists to reach 300. A 60-point season would give Alex DeBrincat 500 NHL points.

JEFF. PETRY. #LGRW pic.twitter.com/tNDtxTKxw4

— Ryan Hana (@RyanHanaWWP) April 12, 2024

And defenseman Jeff Petry will join the NHL’s 1000 games played club if he suits up 63 times this season. Petry is also five goals away from 100 and 23 points from 400.

Red Wings Tarasenko Nearing 300 Goals

Detroit newcomer Vladimir Tarasenko is only seven illuminated red lights away from 300 NHL goals. Tarasenko also is in need of 71 points to get to 700. Good thing he’s signed for two seasons, because unless he enjoys a remarkable campaign, he’s probably not getting 70 points in 2024-25.

Forward Lucas Raymond, who scored a career-high 31 goals last season, needs 29 more to get to 100 in the NHL. A 26-point total will put Raymond to 200 during his NHL career.

Two newcomers between the pipes are also seeking to become milestone men in 2024-25. Cam Talbot, an NHL All-Star Game participant last season, is just 14 appearances away from 500 NHL games. That’s an impressive total for a netminder.

Jack Campbell needs seven wins for 100 as an NHLer. Considering he’s ticketed for the AHL Grand Rapids Griffins, some misfortune would likley need to happen to the three Detroit goalies ahead of him on the depth chart for Campbell to be accumulating seven NHL wins this season.

Of course, there’s one milestone all Red Wings fans would like to see occur during the upcoming campaign. That would be Detroit putting an end to the club’s eight-season NHL playoff absence.

The post Could be Milestone Campaign for Kane, Red Wings appeared first on Detroit Hockey Now.

Philadelphia Flyers general manager Daniel Briere recently referred to Nicolas Deslauriers as Matvei Michkov’s “new best friend.”

The Flyers are making it clear tough forward Deslauriers will have an expanded role in the upcoming season. One of his jobs could be to look after Flyers prize rookie Michkov. Last season, when Deslaurier’s role was reduced (his ice time of 8:09 per game is the lowest since 2016-17), the Flyers learned they played better when was in the lineup to back them up.

“For reference, the Flyers were 29-22-9 with Deslauriers in the lineup in 2023-24 and only 9-11-2 without him, per Statmuse,” Philly Hockey Now writer Jonathan Bailey wrote. “Philadelphia earned a point in 38 of Deslauriers’ 60 games, which means they picked up a point 63% of the time he was in the lineup. In the 22 games without him, that number drops to only 50%.”

In an interview with Philly Hockey Now, Briere said of Deslauriers: “You don’t have to worry about being taken advantage of on the ice because Nick is sitting on the bench, ready to jump on and protect you. I know, as a player, I really appreciated those players. Knowing that Nick is on the bench if something goes south, he can come in and take care of things, I think it goes a long way, especially early in the season, for our players. . . Play well, play a little bit bigger and taller, because you know you have a guy like that backing you up.”

Red Wings In Case You Missed It

Detroit coach Derek Lalonde believes his roster lends itself to better slotting for the upcoming NHL season.

NHL.com ranks Nate Danielson ahead of Marco Kasper on its list of Top Detroit prospects for 2024-25.

Oddsmakers don’t like GM Steve Yzerman‘s Red Wings chances of making the playoffs this season

Red Wings Offseason

Detroit Red Wings captain Dylan Larkin visited Detroit Lions camp and presented quarterback Jared Goff with his own Red Wings jersey. Goff also got a Vladimir Konstantinov jersey.

Special. pic.twitter.com/7NySFaWlSB

— Detroit Red Wings (@DetroitRedWings) August 11, 2024

Hockey Now Network

Chicago: Nate Brown looks at how the Blackhawks’ line should shake out in the upcoming season. Chicago Blackhawks.

Florida: The Stanley Cup champion Panthers boasted the least-expensive tickets in the NHL last season. But there was a catch. The Panthers have high cost for food items and parking. A hot dog is $8 in the Sunrise, Fla. arena. Florida Panthers.

Nashville:  Ten key dates to remember this season for the Nashville Predators. 

The post The Daily: Flyers Play Better With Tough Guy; Larkin Visits Goff appeared first on Detroit Hockey Now.

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The post The All-Homegrown Red Wings Team Led by Larkin (+) appeared first on Detroit Hockey Now.

The state of Michigan has long been one of USA’s hockey hotbeds. But it’s only been recently that the Red Wings have taken advantage of that.

Bob Duff wrote about the thirty-eight native Michigan players have played in the NHL, and six (Dylan Larkin, Jeff Petry, Tyler Motte, Alex DeBrincat, Andrew Copp and Jack Campbell) are on the team now.  (Campbell could end up playing the entire season in Grand Rapids). But six players represents 15.4% of the Michigan list.

Detroit GM Steve Yzerman has said that the Michigan Red Wings were a coincidence, not a strategy.

Red Wings In Case You Missed It

Andrew Copp is looking to produce more this season as the Red Wings look to make the playoffs.

Paywall story: Brady Cleveland is looking to put a charge into his pro development with increased playing time at Colorado College. He played at Wisconsin. If you want to subscribe, click here.To receive a $10 discount on a yearly subscription, use the promo code kevin10.

Bob Duff explores how many Michigan natives have played in NHL, some, like Alex DeBrincat, Copp and Jeff Petry, even played with the Red Wings.

Detroit Red Wings Offseason

Oscar Plandowski, a 2021 unsigned Detroit draft pick (155th), will play hockey at the University of New Brunswick next season. The school has won the past two Canadian university national titles. Also,  former Red Wings player Tomas Jurco is switching teams in the KHL. He left Avangard Omsk as a free agent to sign with Kunlun Red Stars. He had 16 points in 21 games last season for Omsk.

Hockey Now Network

Florida: George Richards explains that Patrik Laine, on the trade block, has a connection to the Florida Panthers.

Montreal: Marc Dumont has the Habs prospect ranking heading into the 2024-25 season. Montreal Canadiens.

Philadelphia: Goalie prospect Alexei Kolosov felt like the Flyers abandoned him last season when he was stuck a month in a hotel without playing. That’s why he didn’t come back.  Jonathan Bailey had the details. Philadelphia Flyers. 

Pittsburgh: Dan Kingerski offers the Penguins No. 1-5 prospect rankings. Pittsburgh Penguins.

The post The Daily: Red Wings Look More at Local Talent ; Rating Habs Prospects appeared first on Detroit Hockey Now.

Elsewhere on this site today, you will see that Detroit Hockey Now has selected an all-time Detroit Red Wings team of Michigan-born players. As an adjunct to those selections, we’ve also gone out on a limb and chosen what we believe to be the All-Michigan team among today’s NHLers.

Surprisingly, two NHL teams combine to contribute two-thirds of this squad. And one of those teams is the Red Wings.

Goal: Connor Hellebuyck, Winnipeg Jets (Commerce)

All Hellebuyck did during the 2023-24 season was win his second Vezina Trophy and earn a First Team NHL All-Star nod for the second time in his career.

Another Vezina for Hellebuyck, another chance to share this video of way back when in West Texas. #NHLAwards https://t.co/ndUOSMMksR pic.twitter.com/BgibNjqnwE

— Whitney Harding (@WhitneyNBC4) June 28, 2024

The Jets netminder also won the Jennings Trophy while posting a .921 save percentage and 37 wins. His career NHL save percentage is .917.

Defense: Zach Werenski, Columbus Blue Jackets (Grosse Pointe)

Werenski was 12th among NHL defenseman last season in points (57) and tied for 17th in goals (11). He’s hit for double-digits in goals in six of his eight NHL seasons. Werenski scored a career-high 20 goals in 2019-20. He was named to the NHL All-Rookie Team in 2016-17.

Defense: Jacob Trouba, New York Rangers (Rochester)

Subject of Red Wings trade rumors earlier this summer, the captain of the Rangers was 12th in the NHL among defensemen last season with 183 blocked shots. He averaged 7.49 blocked shots per 60 minutes of action. Trouba has dished out on average 205.33 hits per season over the last three campaigns. That includes a career-high 218 hits in 2022-23. Trouba won the Mark Messier Leadership Award in 2023-24.

Center: Dylan Larkin, Detroit Red Wings (Waterford)

Larkin led the Red Wings with 33 goals last season. It was his third successive 30-goal campaign. He led the club in goals in each of those seasons and in points in two of the past three seasons.

It’s official.

Dylan Larkin has been named the 37th captain in Detroit Red Wings franchise history. #LGRW pic.twitter.com/l05lknUP6B

— Detroit Red Wings (@DetroitRedWings) January 13, 2021

Larkin has averaged 72.33 points per season over that span, including a career-best 79 points in 2022-23.

Left Wing: Kyle Connor, Winnipeg Jets (Shleby Township)

Connor led the Jets in 2023-24 with 34 goals, including 10 game winners. He’s scored at least 31 goals in five of the past six season. Connor potted a career-high 47 goals in 2021-22, a season in which he also won the Lady Byng Trophy.

Right Wing: Alex DeBrincat, Detroit Red Wings (Farmington Hills)

It’s a testament to DeBrincat’s scoring ability that he’s netted 27 goals in each of the past two seasons and they’ve been considered down seasons for him. Twice he’s netted 41 goals during a single campaign. He’s scored 36 power-play goals over the past three seasons. DeBrincat’s career shooting percentage is 15.5%.

Michigan-Born NHLers

The complete list of Michigan-born players who skated at least one game in the NHL during the 2023-24 season:

Dylan Larkin, C, Waterford (Detroit Red Wings); Alex DeBrincat, RW, Famington Hills (Detroit Red Wings); Andrew Copp C, Ann Arbor (Detroit Red Wings); Jeff Petry, D, Ann Arbor (Detroit Red Wings); Austin Czarnik, C, Detroit (Detroit Red Wings); William Lockwood, RW, Royal Oak (Florida Panthers); Patrick Brown, C, Bloomfield Hills (Boston Bruins); Luke Glendening, C, Grand Rapids (Tampa Bay Lightning); Tyler Motte C, St. Clair (Tampa Bay Lightning); Austin Watson, LW, Ann Arbor (Tampa Bay Lightning); Declan Carlile, D, Hartland (Tampa Bay Lightning); Josh Norris, C, Oxford (Ottawa Senators); Lane Hutson, D, Holland (Montreal Canadiens); Cayden Primeau, G, Farmington Hills (Montreal Canadiens); Kyle Connor, LW, Shelby Township (Winnipeg Jets); Connor Hellebuyck, G, Commerce (Winnipeg Jets); Jason Polin, RW, Holt (Colorado Avalanche); Michael McCarron, RW, Grosse Pointe (Nashville Predators); Torey Krug, D, Livonia (St. Louis Blues); Mackenzie MacEachern, LW, Bloomfield Hills (St. Louis Blues); Frank Nazar, C, Detroit (Chicago Blackhawks).

Jacob Trouba, D, Rochester (New York Rangers); Jalen Chatfield, D, Ypsilanti (Carolina Hurricanes); Bryan Rust, RW, Pontiac (Pittsburgh Penguins); Jonathan Gruden, C, Rochester Hills (Pittsburgh Penguins); Ronnie Attard, D, White Lake (Philadelphia Flyers); Zach Werenski, D, Grosse Pointe (Columbus Blue Jackets); Nick Blankenburg, D, Washington (Columbus Blue Jackets); Dakota Joshua, C, Dearborn (Vancouver Canucks); Ian Cole, D, Ann Arbor (Vancouver Canucks); Jack Campbell, G, Port Huron (Edmonton Oilers); Matt Roy, D, Detroit (Los Angeles Kings); Paul Cotter, C, Canton (Vegas Golden Knights); Alec Martinez, D, Rochester Hills (Vegas Golden Knights); Jordan Oesterle, D, Dearborn Heights (Calgary Flames); Max Jones, LW, Rochester (Anaheim Ducks).

The post Two Red Wings on DHN All-Michigan NHL Squad appeared first on Detroit Hockey Now.

For a team that was in the top 10 in the NHL last season in both goals scored and power-play percentage, the Detroit Red Wings certainly don’t appear to be the stuff of dreams when it comes to fantasy hockey.

Though Detroit would score 275 goals last season – 3.35 goals per game – and were hitting at a 23.1% success rate on the power play, you don’t find a Red Wings forward in the top 35 or a defenseman in the top 20 in the fantasy hockey rankings compiled by The Fantasy Hockey Report.

Both of those numbers would slot the Red Wings into ninth spot in the NHL.

Dylan Larkin has the need for speed.

NHL EDGE Speed powered by @Verizon pic.twitter.com/WraXiB1lyb

— NHL (@NHL) February 15, 2023

Then again, when digging deeper into the data, it just might be that Detroit players are being overrated in these charts. Last season, Lucas Raymond led all Red Wings scorers with 72 points. That was 46th-best in the NHL. Captain Dylan Larkin was 33rd in the league with 31 goals.

Moritz Seider ties it up with a BLAST.

(: @DetroitRedWings)pic.twitter.com/Sio5bRIoAs

— theScore (@theScore) April 16, 2024

Along the blueline, Moritz Seider is Detroit’s top-producing defender. His 42 points last season were only good enough for 32nd overall in scoring by a defenseman.

The Fantasy Hockey Report bases their ratings solely on points. Their rankings are for the next 1-2 seasons, and consider each player’s track record, upside, age, team, injury history and fantasy trade value.

Larkin Highest-Rated Red Wings Forward

Among forwards, Larkin slots in as the top available Red Wings players. He’s giving a ranking of 35th overall. You’ll drop all the way to 49th for the next Detroit player, Alex DeBrincat. Following them, Patrick Kane (66), Raymond (68) and Vladimir Tarasenko (98) also crack the top 100.

Simply basing it on the way he would finish the 2023-24 season with 14 goals over his final 17 games, Raymond would seem a bit low on the list. Kane, Tarasenko and DeBrincat are all past 40-goal snipers. Granted, it’s been awhile since each was reaching that lofty plateau. DeBrincat most recently did in 2021-22. For Kane was 2018-19 and Tarasenko was a 40-goal man in 2015-16.

Gostisbehere Departure Hurts Detroit Defense

Shayne Gostisbehere, was was 13th among NHL defenseman in scoring last season with 56 points, would depart Detroit as a UFA. That leaves Seider likely back in position as the main point man on Detroit’s No. 1 power-play unit.

He’s had 42 points in each of the last two seasons, after a career-high 50-point output in his Calder Trophy-winning season of 2021-22.

Red Wings Goalies Post An O-fer

Detroit goalies would post four shutouts among four netminders during the 2023-24 campaign. They have four NHL-caliber goalies under contract for the upcoming season, and are also posting an o-fer. None of Cam Talbot, Alex Lyon, Ville Husso, or Jack Campbell were able to crack the Fantasy Hockey Report rankings of the to-50 NHL goalies.

It’s certainly serves to emphasize the uncertainty facing the club in terms of their netminders. Meanwhile, both goalies for the Washington Capitals – Charlie Lindgren and Logan Thompson – are part of the top 30. It was Washington that nipped Detroit by one point last season for the final Eastern Conference playoff position.

The post Red Wings Not The Stuff of Fantasy appeared first on Detroit Hockey Now.

A funny thing happened to the Florida Panthers on their way to what could have been a sweep in the Stanley Cup Final.  After claiming a 3-0 series lead, the Panthers haven’t been the same team and the Edmonton Oilers now look like a superpower.

Since falling behind 3-0 in the series, the Oilers have outscored Florida 18-5. The Panthers haven’t had a lead since Game 3. The Oilers have led every second since. FHN’s George Richards has the details.

Game 7 will be Monday.

The Panthers in danger of becoming the first NHL team in 82 years to squander a 3-0 series lead in the Stanley Cup Final. The only other team to suffer that indignity was the 1942 Detroit Red Wings. They surrendered their 3-0 SCF series lead to the Toronto Maple Leafs in 1942. DHN’s Bob Duff looks back at that series. 

"Now we're starting to see the details… [Edmonton's] outworking the Florida Panthers right now."@Rupper17 and @mike_p_johnson break down how the switch flipped for the Oilers after Game 3 and what's happened to Florida. #StanleyCup | @JamisonCoyle pic.twitter.com/aM0ZLEMbYt

— NHL Network (@NHLNetwork) June 22, 2024

Red Wings In Case You Missed It

Detroit captain Dylan Larkin is recovering from offseason surgery. GM Steve Yzerman revealed that Larkin needed surgery to repair an upper body injury that he endured late in the season.

The Red Wings may land a goalie, but it is unlikely to be Anaheim’s John Gibson. The Red Wings may be looking for a veteran to play in Grand Rapids and be the No. 3 goalie.  Bob Duff has the details.

Paywall story: The Red Wings don’t really have much cap space to go aggressively after their own free agents. Lucas Raymond and Moritz Seider will claim the majority of their cap space. DHN has the details of the team’s salary cap situation. If you need to subscribe, click here:  To receive a $10 discount, use the promo code kevin10.

Red Wings Offseason

In projecting the Red Wings cap situation, keep in mind that Joe Veleno is arbitration eligible. That is going to lift his salary just a bit. AFP Analytics projects Veleno’s salary will come in at $1.98 million on a two-year deal. He earned $850,000 this season.

Hockey Now Network

Boston: Report links Jake DeBrusk to the Maple Leafs once he becomes a UFA. Boston Bruins. 

Chicago: CHN staff believes Blackhawks will take Michigan State’s Artyom Levshunov at No. 2 in the NHL draft. Chicago Blackhawks.

Philadelphia: Jonathan Bailey offers Part 1 of a Q & A with Flyers general manager Danny Briere. Philadelphia Flyers.  

Pittsburgh: With Alex Nedeljkovic now locked into a two-year contract, Dan Kingerski explores whether goalie Tristan Jarry has true trade value. Pittsburgh Penguins

The post The Daily: Oilers Turning SCF Into 1942 Repeat?; Larkin Update appeared first on Detroit Hockey Now.

Detroit Red Wings captain Dylan Larkin had surgery to repair an upper body injury after the past season. However, general manager Steve Yzerman said it should not interfere with his readiness for the 2024-25 season.

“I expect he’s training,” Yzerman said when he met with media to discuss next week’s NHL draft. “I don’t think he’s skating or shooting pucks yet, but I expect him to be 100 percent by training camp.”

Larkin planned to play for Team USA at the World Championships last spring, but had to pull out when it was decided surgery was needed.

“He had an injury, an upper-body injury that he was dealing with late in the season that we didn’t really think a lot about at the time,”  Yzerman said. “And then the end of the season, we do all of our testing and they get whatever scans and x-rays and things. He had to address that with — I don’t want to call it minor surgery, but he had to have surgery.”

Lyon on the Mend

Goalie Alex Lyon did join team USA and then cut his hand in a 6-1 win against Germany. That knocked him out of the tournament.

“Alex suffered a cut on his finger,” Yzerman said. “I think there might have been some minor laceration to the tendon, one of the tendons, but nothing that needed required surgery and it will heal fine. I don’t expect either of those to be an issue once the season starts.”

The Lyon report is important because, barring any major move by Yzerman, he will be one of Detroit’s two goalies in the 2024-25 season. His quality play last season, coupled with his $900,000 salary, makes him an attractive option in net.

Yzerman also said that the injury prospect defenseman Simon Edvinsson suffered at the end of the AHL playoffs was not significant.

“He was fine,” Yzerman said. “He left pretty quickly after to go home (to Sweden). There was no issues.”

The post Dylan Larkin Recovering From Postseason Surgery appeared first on Detroit Hockey Now.

Detroit Red Wings players are really no different than you when it comes to workplace relationships. While their might be more zeroes on the end of their paychecks and further girth to their wallet than yours, the fact of the matter is they have both good and bad days on the job.

And some days, their boss certanly can get on their nerves.

This is going to be Derek Lalonde’s third season on the job as head coach of the team when the Red Wings go to training camp in the fall. He’s also entering the last year of the three-year deal he signed with Detroit, so viewing it from the outside, it’s easy to see this as a make it or break it season concerningas his future with the team.

That being the case, it’s interesting to get a sense of the sentiments that the Red Wings players have of the job their bench boss is doing.

Former @ToledoWalleye coach and current Detroit Red Wings coach Derek Lalonde had the honor of smashing the giant cowbell tonight. pic.twitter.com/UU8lhGSxA7

— Mark Monroe (@MonroeBlade) May 3, 2024

“Newsy, one thing I really respect about him and like about him as a coach is he’s always pretty even keeled,” Red Wings captain Dylan Larkin said. “He’s demanding but he knows how to get the best out of each guy I believe.

“Whether it’s different, or the same, I think he’s just really always the same, even keel. You know what you’re gonna get and I respect that.”

Red Wings Lalonde Can Be Contradictory

If you pay attention during Lalonde’s sessions with the media, his answers often take on a point-counterpoint aura. Reporters covering the team are often referring to this as Lalonde’s ‘yeah but’ instinct.

He’ll frequently follow a compliment about a player by highlighting a moment of an instance where they could’ve done something better, especially if it’s an example of how they hampered the team’s chances at success.

“I can’t say I’ve watched too much of what he’s like in the press room but he is a pretty calm guy, but he’s still passionate,” Red Wings forward J.T. Compher said. “There’s times where he’s fired up.”

Red Wings head coach Derek Lalonde was calling a dive on Tim Stützle pic.twitter.com/CWF2B97Y91

— Gino Hard (@GinoHard_) February 1, 2024

Behind the scenes, the players do admit that Lalonde doesn’t hesitate to call players out and demand more of them.

“He’s a competitive guy just like the rest of the players and coaches in that room,” Compher said. “He wants to win and he, along with the rest of the group, feels like we do everything we can to win and he’s part of that.”

Yzerman Will Have Ultimate Call On Lalonde’s Future

Even though he’s only been in charge of the Red Wings for two seasons, there are only 10 current NHL head coaches with more seniority in their current job than Lalonde.

When you get right down to it, there’s only one man who’ll determine the long-term future of Lalonde as Detroit’s bench boss. That would be his boss, Detroit GM Steve Yzerman.

“I think we competed hard,,” was Yzerman’s assessment of Detroit’s 2023-24 season. “I thought there was a lot of energy, a lot of enthusiasm and a lot of determination amongst the players.

“Obviously we weren’t perfect. But the most important thing from my vantage point is that our players are motivated, our players are determined. There’s a good atmosphere within the locker room.”

The post Red Wings Players Offer Assessment of Lalonde appeared first on Detroit Hockey Now.